Caris Life Sciences Announces Allowances of Two New Patents for its Proprietary Offering Caris Molecular Intelligence

IRVING, Texas, March 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Caris Life Sciences® today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has recently provided notice of allowances for two of Caris' pending patent applications: United States Patent Application Nos. 14/187,015 (" '015 Application") and 14/249,261 (" '261 Application"). The patents that issue will provide intellectual property protection for Caris Molecular Intelligence® (CMI), the company's patented and proprietary offering to help oncologists make informed therapy decisions, and strengthen the worldwide patent portfolio to 17 patents. The '015 Application claims are directed to the molecular analysis of PTEN, CTNNB1, cKIT, BRAF and PIK3CA to identify therapeutic options for lung cancer, while the '261 Application claims are directed to the molecular analysis of TOP1, TYMS, MGMT, PTEN, HER2, cMET, PIK3CA, KRAS, EGFR, PGP, RRM1, TLE3, TOP2A, cKIT and BRAF, utilizing sequencing, immunohistochemistry (IHC) and in situ hybridization (ISH) to identify therapeutic options for any cancer.

"With the addition of these patents, Caris now maintains an even more robust portfolio of intellectual property. Strong intellectual property protection is essential for biotechnology-based companies like Caris because it provides incentive to continue to invest in research and development," said David D. Halbert, Chairman and CEO of Caris Life Sciences. "With the growing awareness of the importance of precision medicine in oncology as well as other fields, research and development is critical to advancing the field and improving patient care."

The recently allowed patent applications are part of Caris' intellectual property portfolio, which includes an additional nine issued U.S. patents and six foreign patents that also provide intellectual property protection for CMI. The nine U.S. patents have claims that are generally directed to molecular analysis of various sample types for various biomarkers, as follows in table below.

Caris has filed and continues to pursue additional patent applications in order to expand the scope of intellectual property protection for CMI. For more detailed review of the scope of the claimed inventions, the patents are available at www.uspto.gov.

About Caris Life Sciences® Founded by David D. Halbert in 2008, Caris Life Sciences® is a leading biotechnology company focused on fulfilling the promise of precision medicine through quality and innovation. Caris Molecular Intelligence®, the company's patented offering to help physicians make more informed therapy decisions, with more than 85,000 patients tested, provides oncologists with the most clinically actionable treatment options available to personalize cancer care today. Using a variety of advanced profiling technologies to assess relevant biological changes in each patient's tumor, Caris Molecular Intelligence connects biomarker data generated from a tumor with biomarker-drug associations supported by evidence in the relevant clinical literature through a proprietary bioinformatics rules engine. Since 2009, Caris Life Sciences has tracked clinical and outcome data for certain patients undergoing molecular testing, and has observed that patients treated with drugs consistent with their molecular status show a significant increase in overall survival. The company is also developing its ADAPT Biotargeting System™, a revolutionary and unbiased profiling platform with applications across therapy development, drug delivery, advanced diagnostics and disease monitoring. Currently being developed for cancer and other complex diseases, the ADAPT Biotargeting System is able to simultaneously measure millions of molecular interactions within complex biological systems in their natural state(s). Headquartered in Irving, Texas, Caris Life Sciences offers services throughout the U.S., Europe, Australia and other international markets. To learn more, please visit www.CarisLifeSciences.com.